4 ms·

This is exactly what good managers are for. Go get _some_ job doing what you know how to do -- hunting down bugs in embedded C++ code is a skill the right empl

This is exactly what good managers are for. Go get _some_ job doing what you know how to do -- hunting down bugs in embedded C++ code is a skill the right employers will pay good money for. Don't apply for full software engineering jobs if you don't feel confident doing that. Be up front with your hiring manager about what skills you have now and what skills you want to develop. ("Up front" does not mean "ruthlessly self-critical." Do not say, "I'm actually quite terrible at programming," or, "I have no value in an engineering organization." Say, "I've done plenty of coding but to be honest most of my professional experience to date has been tracking down hard-to-find bugs and I think that's where I'll be able to provide the most value from day 1.") Apply around to a lot of places, and look for somewhere that values the skills you have but also will allow you to develop into the longer-term role you want to hold. Make sure you meet your hiring manager before you accept a job, make sure you talk through this with him, make sure you look him or her in the eye and believe that they are a good person and are sincere about helping you grow into the next phase of your career.

hoboon 12y ago
> Apply around to a lot of places, and look for somewhere that values the skills you have but also will allow you to develop into the longer-term role you want to hold. Applying for jobs is what I've been doing. Why would you assume I wasn't? Perhaps because I forgot to mention that in my original post since everyone seems to assume that. Anyways, in general because bug fixing is not considered desirable work, it's hard to find people who want to do it. I'm willing to do it again at this point, despite having sunk considerable costs into learning about data science/engineering. So, it's hard to find people. Guess what? They won't let people leave sustaining engineering because it's hard to find replacements. So, no sustaining engineering manager is going to seriously entertain talking about tossing out an sustaining engineer. It's either fix bugs or quit. In fact, that was the situation my boss did to me last time. There's no feature or tool development but he sort of lied about moving up and around the company when I was brought on. So I quit and tried to take initiative and now it's not working out like I had tried to.
- pauleastlund 12y ago
  I didn't mean to assume that you weren't applying for jobs. You said you'd been on a "few interviews," and I was trying to stress that what you're looking for -- a company that both wants the skill you have now and will help you gain the skills you want to have in the near future -- is probably uncommon, and you will have to cast a broad net. You're right: many companies hiring for bug-hunters don't offer a good path to real developer roles from there. And many will not be totally honest about it. Those are difficulties. That's why the search will be hard. But there are good managers out there who will deal straight with you, and there are employers that will let you make that transition -- and even assist you in making it. You're just going to have to really look for them.
  - hoboon 12y ago
    > You're just going to have to really look for them. yes, that's true. But how long? Especially compared to the brilliant people fresh from school I'm competing against. Thanks for the advice, though. and I wish i had talked to someone like you years ago. I guess I drew up the unlucky lottery and I'm trying my best to fix it.

hoboon 12y ago

> Apply around to a lot of places, and look for somewhere that values the skills you have but also will allow you to develop into the longer-term role you want to hold. Applying for jobs is what I've been doing. Why would you assume I wasn't? Perhaps because I forgot to mention that in my original post since everyone seems to assume that. Anyways, in general because bug fixing is not considered desirable work, it's hard to find people who want to do it. I'm willing to do it again at this point, despite having sunk considerable costs into learning about data science/engineering. So, it's hard to find people. Guess what? They won't let people leave sustaining engineering because it's hard to find replacements. So, no sustaining engineering manager is going to seriously entertain talking about tossing out an sustaining engineer. It's either fix bugs or quit. In fact, that was the situation my boss did to me last time. There's no feature or tool development but he sort of lied about moving up and around the company when I was brought on. So I quit and tried to take initiative and now it's not working out like I had tried to.

pauleastlund 12y ago
I didn't mean to assume that you weren't applying for jobs. You said you'd been on a "few interviews," and I was trying to stress that what you're looking for -- a company that both wants the skill you have now and will help you gain the skills you want to have in the near future -- is probably uncommon, and you will have to cast a broad net. You're right: many companies hiring for bug-hunters don't offer a good path to real developer roles from there. And many will not be totally honest about it. Those are difficulties. That's why the search will be hard. But there are good managers out there who will deal straight with you, and there are employers that will let you make that transition -- and even assist you in making it. You're just going to have to really look for them.
- hoboon 12y ago
  > You're just going to have to really look for them. yes, that's true. But how long? Especially compared to the brilliant people fresh from school I'm competing against. Thanks for the advice, though. and I wish i had talked to someone like you years ago. I guess I drew up the unlucky lottery and I'm trying my best to fix it.